Two people are reported to have been injured by an explosion on China's 2nd West-to-East Natural Gas Pipeline in Shangli County in Jiangxi State, which occurred in the morning of 26 May 2013. The explosion occurred in an industrial zone about 300 m from a highway service station, and several hundred people are said to have been knocked over by the force of the blast. Local authorities are investigating the cause of the blast.
The location of Shangli County. Google Maps.
The 2nd East-to-West Natural Gas Pipeline carries about 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year from gas fields in Xinjiang Province and the Central Asian Republics to the industrialized regions of Yangtze and Pearl River deltas, where it is used in industry and homes. Any long-term disruption to this supply route is likely to have severe consequences. China is the world's largest user of natural gas, much of it imported from Central Asia via the two East-to-West Pipelines. The country plans to open a third pipeline in the near future and has longer term plans for at least two more.
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